Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with 11 analysts recommending a buy, 5 advising hold, and 1 issuing a strong buy.
• The average 1-year target price for Williams Companies among brokers is $63.07, reflecting recent upgrades in ratings from analysts at firms like CIBC and Wells Fargo.
• Insider trading activity has been observed, with COO Larry C. Larsen selling 4,500 shares and SVP Terrance Lane Wilson selling 2,000 shares, signaling a 5.48% and 0.64% decrease in their ownership, respectively.

Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.0667.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. CIBC raised shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction of $115,240.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,500 shares of company stock worth $623,115 in the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 104.8% during the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $64.05 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $58.53 and its 200-day moving average is $58.74. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $44.65 and a 1-year high of $64.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market cap of $78.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Williams Companies Company Profile

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.

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